Japanese Cooking

By: April Thompson, NCTA Ohio 2017 Subject: Ancient World History Grade: 7th

Content Statement: 16 – The ability to understand individual and group perspectives is essential to analyzing historic and contemporary issues. Content Statement: 4 – Mongol influence led to unified states in China and Korea, but the Mongol failure to conquer allowed a feudal system to persist. Content Statement: 8 – Empires in Africa (Ghana, Mali and Songhay) and Asia (Byzantine, Ottoman, Mughal and China) grew as commercial and cultural centers along trade routes. 5. Lesson 1

Japanese Cooking

Academic Content Standards: Content Statement: 16 – The ability to understand individual and group perspectives is essential to analyzing historic and contemporary issues.

Essential Question: What is the primary agricultural product produced in Japan? How does this impact the diet of Japanese children? What type of snack might a Japanese child eat?

Objective: ● Students will link previously learned information about the history of Japanese Feudalism and geography (below). ● Students will learn the importance of Rice to Japanese society. ● Students will prepare a Japanese recipe for Rice Balls. ● Students will compare and contrast a Japanese Rice Ball to an American lunch food-- ham sandwich on white bread.

Materials: (prior to this lesson) Printed copies of Climate and Geographical Feature, Japanese Feudalism and The Mongols Try to Invade Japan (attached) Chromebooks (to read from) or printed copies of RICE Printed copies of Onigiri 101: How to Make Japanese Rice Balls Previously prepared Japanese cooked rice (enough for each child to make a ball)**It is important that you use Japanese rice since a certain stickiness is required for the balls to hold together Add-in ingredients such as tuna, cooked chicken, smoked salmon Nori (roasted seaweed. Available on Amazon.)

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 1 Japanese Cooking

Activities: Prior to lesson: ● Arrange desks into groups of 4 ● Cover desks with butcher block paper ● Place copy of Onigiri 101: How to make Japanese Rice Balls at each cluster of desks. ● Place small bowl of salt water at each cluster of desks ● Place approximately 1 cup of cooked rice in a bowl at each cluster of desks ● Place add-in ingredients on a table in the front of the room so students have access ● Prepare a large Venn diagram on the board to be used for class discussion During lesson: ● All students must wash hands and place all personal belongings on the floor ● Read Onigiri 101 aloud as a class and discuss the items on the cluster of desks. ● Demonstrate how to make a Japanese Rice Ball for the students ● Allow students to select their add-in ingredient from the table and take it back to their area. ● Allow students to construct their own rice ball and place it in front of them until everyone is finished. ● Allow students to eat their rice ball. ● Engage in class discussion to compare and contrast Japanese Rice Bowls to a ham sandwich. Assessment: Students will be informally assessed based on their ability to follow directions and participate in class discussion.

The Mongols try to Invade Japan

In 1266, the Mongol ruler paused in his campaign to subdue all of China, and sent a message to the Emperor of Japan.

He addressed the Emperor as "the ruler of a small country," and advised the Japanese to give him money…or else! The Khan's emissaries returned from Japan without an answer.

Five times over the next six years, Kublai Khan sent his messengers; the Japanese shogun (military leaders) would not allow them even to land on Honshu, the main island. In 1271, Kublai Khan defeated the Song Dynasty, and declared himself the first emperor of China's Yuan Dynasty. A grandson of Genghis Khan, he ruled over much of China plus Mongolia and Korea; meanwhile, his uncles and cousins controlled an empire that stretched from Hungary in the west to the Pacific coast of Siberia in the east. The great khans of the Mongol Empire did not tolerate impudence from their neighbors.

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 2 Japanese Cooking

To attack the Japanese, the Mongols commissioned the construction of 300 to 600 vessels from the shipyards of southern China and Korea, and made an army of some 40,000 men. Many of the officers were Mongolian, but the majority of the soldiers were ethnic Chinese and Korean.

Against this mighty force, Japan could muster only about 10,000 fighting men from the ranks of the often-squabbling clans. Japan's warriors were seriously outmatched.

The Mongols and their subjects launched an attack on Japan in the autumn of 1274. Hundreds of large ships, and an even larger number of small boats set out into the Sea of Japan. (The exact number of vessels is unknown; estimates range between 500 and 900.)

First, the invaders seized the islands of Tsushima and Iki, which lay about halfway between the tip of the Korean peninsula and the main islands of Japan. Quickly overcoming desperate resistance from the islands' approximately 300 Japanese residents, the Mongol troops slaughtered them all and sailed on to the east.

On November 18, the Mongol armada reached Hakata Bay in Japan. The Japanese samurai army set out to fight. According to their code of bushido, a warrior would step out, announce his name and lineage, and prepare for one-on-one combat with a foe. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Mongols were not familiar with the code. When a lone samurai stepped forward to challenge them, the Mongols would simply attack him--much like ants swarming a beetle.

To make matters worse for the Japanese, the Yuan forces also used poison-tipped arrows, catapult-launched explosive shells, and a shorter bow that was accurate at twice the range of the samurai's longbows. In addition, the Mongols fought in units, rather than each man for himself. All of this was new to the samurai - often fatally so.

Unbeknownst to the Japanese defenders, the Chinese and Korean sailors on board Kublai Khan's ships were busy persuading the Mongolian generals to let them raise anchor and head further out to sea. They worried that the strong wind and high surf would drive their ships aground in Hakata Bay if they docked by the shore. The great armada sailed out into open waters - straight into the arms of an approaching typhoon.

Two days later, a third of the Mongolian ships lay on the bottom of the Pacific, and perhaps 13,000 of Kublai Khan's soldiers and sailors had drowned. The battered survivors limped home, and The Great Khan’s attempt to conquer Japan was denied.

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 3 Japanese Cooking

After being denied Japan, Kublai Khan established a new government division called the Ministry for Conquering Japan. Kublai Khan was determined to smash Japan. He knew that his defeat had been simple bad luck due more to the weather than to any extraordinary fighting prowess of the samurai.

With more forewarning of this second attack, Japan was able to muster 40,000 samurai and other fighting men. They assembled behind the defensive wall at Hakata Bay, their eyes trained to the west.

The Mongols sent two separate forces this time; an impressive force of 900 ships containing 40,000 Korean, Chinese, and Mongol troops set out from Masan, while an even larger force of 100,000 sailed from southern China in 3,500 ships. The Ministry for Conquering Japan's plan called for an overwhelming coordinated attack from the combined imperial Yuan fleets.

The Chinese fleet docked on the shores of Japan on June 23, 1281. At night, samurai would row out to the Mongol ships in small boats, attack the Chinese and Korean troops, set fire to the ships, and then row back to land.

These night-time raids demoralized the Mongol soldiers. On August 12, the Mongols' main fleet landed to the west of Hakata Bay in Japan. Now faced with a force more than three times as large as their own, the samurai were in serious danger of being overrun and slaughtered. With little hope of survival, the Japanese samurai fought on with desperate bravery.

Just when it appeared that the samurai would be exterminated and Japan crushed under the Mongol yoke, an incredible, even miraculous event took place.

On August 15, 1281, a second typhoon roared ashore at Kyushu. Of the khan's 4,400 ships, only a few hundred rode out the towering waves and vicious winds.

Nearly all of the invaders drowned in the storm; those few thousand who made it to shore were hunted and killed without mercy by the samurai. Very few ever returned to China to tell the tale at Dadu.

The Japanese believed that their gods had sent the storms to preserve Japan from the Mongols. They called the two storms or "divine winds." Kublai Khan seemed to agree that Japan was protected by supernatural forces; he abandoned the idea of ever conquering the island nation. http://asianhistory.about.com/od/japan/a/Mongolinvasion.htm

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 4 Japanese Cooking

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 5 Japanese Cooking

Climate and Geographical Features

The land area of Japan is 377,954 square kilometers, which is one twenty-fifth that of the United States (a little smaller than California), Japan consists of a long series of islands stretching for 3,000 kilometers from north to south. The four main islands are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu.

Japan is surrounded by sea. Warm and cold currents flow through the seas around it, creating an environment that supports a variety of fish species.

Most of Japan is in the Northern Temperate Zone of the earth and has a humid monsoon climate, with southeasterly winds blowing from the Pacific Ocean during the summer and northwesterly winds blowing from the Eurasian continent in the winter.

The country has four well-defined seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. Two of the most beautiful sights in Japan are the cherry blossoms in spring and the vibrant reds, oranges, and yellows of the autumn leaves. The Japanese people enjoy these signs of the changing seasons and track their progress with weather reports, which feature maps showing where the spring blossoms and autumn leaves are at their best. The far north and south of Japan have very different climates. In March, for example, you can go sunbathing in the south and skiing in the north!

The country often suffers such serious natural disasters as typhoons, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes. Although these disasters can claim many lives, as in the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake of January 1995 and the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 2011, the Japanese have been working hard for years to minimize their damage. Japan uses state-of-the-art technologies to design quake-resistant structures and to track storms with greater precision.

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 6 Japanese Cooking http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/explore/nature/

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 7 Japanese Cooking

Japanese Feudalism

Society was divided into two classes in Feudal Japan, the nobility and the peasants. The noble class made up roughly twelve percent of the population with peasants making up the rest.

Emperor and Shogun The Emperor and the Shogun were the highest ranking nobles. During Japan's feudal period the Shogun held the most power while the Emperor was more of a puppet figure with little actual power. As the Shogun was a military leader his sword was an important part of his attire.

Daimyo Daimyo were powerful warlords and the most powerful rulers under the Shogun from the 10th century to the early 19th century. Within their province the Daimyo had complete military and economic power. Daimyo had vast hereditary land holdings and armies to protect the land and its workers. The most powerful warlords sometimes achieved the status of Shogun.

Samurai The Daimyo armies were made up of Samurai warriors. Samurai worked under Daimyo, but they had additional privileges and held a higher social status than common people. These privileges included being able to have a surname, a family crest, and carry two swords. People with Samurai family names are still treated with great respect in Japan today. Although most samurai were not well educated, they had a strict code of honor or the "way of the warrior", known as bushido in Japanese. If a Samurai broke the bushido code and brought dishonor to him/herself they would be expected to commit seppuku, or ritual suicide. Women were allowed to serve as samurai but always served under a male leader.

Peasants Peasants were divided into several sub-classes. The highest ranking of the peasants were farmers. Farmers who owned their own land ranked higher than farmers who did not. Craftsmen, or artisans, were the second highest ranking after the farmers. They worked with wood and metal and some became well-known as expert Samurai sword makers. Merchants were the lowest ranking because it was felt they made their living off of other people's work.

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 8 Japanese Cooking

However, in later times when Japan began to use money more as currency merchants became more wealthy.

http://www.facts-about-japan.com/feudal-japan.html

Lesson 2

Chinese Calligraphy

April Thompson, 7th grade Ancient World History Teacher, Mount Vernon Middle School

Academic Content Standards: Content Statement: 16 – The ability to understand individual and group perspectives is essential to analyzing historic and contemporary issues.

Essential Question: What is Chinese Calligraphy and how is it different from written English?

Objective: ● Students will read about Chinese calligraphy. ● Students will use traditional ink and brush technique. ● Students will create their own Chinese character. ● Students will engage in discussion about how and why Chinese calligraphy is considered an art form.

Materials: Chromebooks or printed copies of article about Chinese Calligraphy aloud (there is a great video clip at the bottom of this article that would be great to watch in addition to reading about it. You can also enlarge the image of the 6 styles of calligraphy for better discussion) Blank paper (rice paper would be ideal as it is better for absorption. It can be found on Amazon here.) Scrap paper Calligraphy brushes Ink stick and stone Chinese Character worksheet and reference sheet (included below)

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 9 Japanese Cooking

Activities: Prior to lesson: ● Arrange desks into groups of 4. ● Cover desks with butcher block paper or newspaper. ● Place copy of Chinese Calligraphy article and Chinese Character worksheets on cluster of desks. ● Place scrap paper, pieces of blank paper, calligraphy brushes and pots of ink on cluster of desks. During lesson: ● Students must place all personal materials under desk. ● Read article about calligraphy aloud to class. During discussion ask probing questions including ○ Considering the Latin language discussed in Rome unit, how do these characters differ? ● Teacher will model technique for getting ink onto the brush and allow students to prepare brushes. ● Students will watch a Chinese Calligraphy Demonstration video clip. And follow step by step instructions on worksheet and scrap paper paying close attention to technique and order. ● Teacher will model making a final copy to be displayed. ● Students will practice their own technique and create a final copy without the aid of the worksheet. Assessment: Students will be informally assessed based on their completion of a chinese character.

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 10 Japanese Cooking

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 11 Japanese Cooking

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 12

Japanese Cooking

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 13 Japanese Cooking

Lesson 3

Korean Tales for Children April Thompson, 7th grade Ancient World History Teacher, Mount Vernon Middle School

Academic Content Standards: Content Statement: 16 – The ability to understand individual and group perspectives is essential to analyzing historic and contemporary issues. Content Statement: 4 – Mongol influence led to unified states in China and Korea

Essential Question: What are we supposed to learn from a Korean folktale?

Objective: ● Students will develop an understanding for traditional Korean values through their folktales. ● Students will appreciate the diverse culture and traditions through Korean folktales.

Materials: Projector to display the quotes about folk and fairy tales Chromebooks to read with or copies of the Korean tale The Sun and the Moon and Shim Cheong, The Devoted Daughter (this link also gives students the opportunity to listen to the story) Exit slip (included)

Activities: Prior to lesson: Print individual copies of stories or have links to online versions visible for students. Print exit slips to be completed after students read both stories. During lesson: Teacher will read quotes about folk and fairy tales aloud. Teacher will ask students to engage in a discussion about why folk and fairy tales are important to a society. Students will read both Korean folk tales. Students will discuss the tales with each other and respond to the stories by completing the exit slip (included). Assessment: Students will be assessed based on their answers to the questions posed on the exit slip.

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 14 Japanese Cooking

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 15 Japanese Cooking

Name Period

Korean Folk Tales Exit Slip Directions: Answer all of the following questions in complete sentences.

1. What do you think the morale of the story is for The Sun and the Moon? 2. What do you think the morale of the story is for Shim Cheong, the Devoted Daughter? 3. Based on these two folk tales, what do you think is valued in Korean society? 4. Which of these two stories did you appreciate the most? Why? 5. Why do you think folktales are an important tool in learning about a society?

NCTA Ohio 2017 Page 16